Aging Pipes Are Poisoning America's Tap Water

Mays and other residents say that the city government endangered their health when it stopped buying water from Detroit last year and instead started selling residents treated water from the Flint River. “Flint is an extreme case, but nationally, there’s been a lack of investment in water infrastructure,” said Eric Scorsone, an economist at Michigan State University who has followed the case of Flint. “This is a common problem nationally— infrastructure maintenance has not kept up.” Bethany Hazard says her water started coming out of the faucet brown and smelling like a sewer, and when she called the city to complain, she was told the water was fine.